Category archive: books

August 25, 2004

Mouseketeer, Fact of Life, Hot Sauce-wielding Mom

The Lord may work in mysterious ways, but Lisa Whelchel is happy to reveal her secrets for raising God-fearing, well-disciplined children. ["well" as in "well done steak"] The former Facts of Life star and Mouseketeer is now a prolific author-mom,...
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August 24, 2004

Ed Koch's Book for Kids Who Can't Play Sports

Although he's famous as the face of New York's Welcome Committee for the Republican Convention (slogan: "You don't have to be a Democrat to like New York! [just if you want New York to like you back]") and the author...
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August 18, 2004

Kodomo no Kuni: 1920's Japanese Children's Magazine

[via waxy] Kodomo no Kuni was a remarkable magazine for children which was emphasized art's ability to expand kids' imagination. It was published in Japan's Taisho era, a short-lived period marked by liberalism, westernization, and modernism that flourished starting...
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July 9, 2004

What Webloggers are Reading (Their Kids) This Summer

Phil Gyford asked some bigname webloggers [sic] for their summer reading lists, and here are their responses. Although I'm sure your kid would love to hear Middlesex or the latest collection of David Foster Wallace, the only childrens' title recommendations...
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July 3, 2004

George W. Bush's 'My Pet Goat'

On the morning of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush was visiting the Emma E. Booker elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, where he read a book called "My Pet Goat" to a class of second graders. With the release of...
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June 30, 2004

Jew Havin' A Baby?

ChosenCouture.com, the makers of the Yo Semite! and Jews for Jeter t-shirts, also offer a few gift ideas for the new dad. You don't need to be Jewish to appreciate them (although for one, you do need to be a...
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June 22, 2004

Elmer the Rainbow-Patchwork Elephant

A good friend gave the kid an Elmer Book and a stuffed Elmer doll, which has become one of her favorites to gnaw on. Elmer is different from other elephants; he's covered with patchworks in all the colors of the...
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June 21, 2004

A Variety of Memory Book Options

A couple of Daddy Typers in Hotlanta emailed asking about memory books, those keepsake photo/big event albums for recording a kid's life until he's old enough to blog it for himself. I have to confess my ignorance of the memory...
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June 15, 2004

Andy Warhol's Children's Book

In 1983, Andy Warhol made a set of 12 paintings for a little children's book, which was published by the Swiss dealer, Bruno Bischofberger. There's an apple on the cover, and animals (a terrier, a monkey) and machines (a...
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June 11, 2004

Be Prepared: A (Great, Funny) Practical Handbook for New Dads

I'll come clean. I was a Boy Scout. Growing up, our parents drilled it into my and my brothers' heads that we wouldn't get our driver's license until we finished our Eagle Project. [Needless to say, I got my...
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May 24, 2004

P is for Programming your Kid

I just "read" Steven T. Johnson's Alphabet City to my 3-month old (the quotes are because there are no words, only pictures, and of course, I'm lucky if I sound like Charlie Brown's teacher to her at this point), which...
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April 30, 2004

Parenting & The Paradox of Choice

In an article for Slate, Swarthmore psych professor Barry Schwartz applies the key principles of his book, The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, to the challenges of parenting. The executive summary: Parents who relentlessly pursue "only the best"...
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April 25, 2004

Teaching Optimism

Optimism can be learned, and it can be taught. Here is an excerpt from The Optimistic Child: A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience, by Martin E. P. Seligman:Optimistic children explain good events to themselves...
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April 12, 2004

The Baby Whisperer

On the well-behaved baby front, a doctor-in-Westchester friend recommended very highly Tracy Hogg�s Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. Through anecdotes and rapid-read bullet points backed by her own and other research, Hogg explains: how to introduce structure to a newborn's...
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How to Get Your Kid to Sleep

On his own weblog, writer/uber-blogger/dad Mark Frauenfelder says:I was trying to think about what book has had the greatest effect on my life. I thought about books I'd read in college that seemed to carry a lot of philosophical weight...
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April 1, 2004

Sign Language for Babies

We just received this great-looking book from some forward-thinking friends. Turns out sign language for hearing babies is quite a cottage industry. [Kindersigns is just one of many programs online.] The basic concept: babies as young as 6-7 months...
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March 17, 2004

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Twenty Days with Julian"

"It really does seem as if he has baited me with more questions, references, and observations, than mortal father ought to be expected to endure." In the summer of 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife took the couple's two daughters on an...
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March 16, 2004

Worst Case Scenario: Parenting & Baby Owner's Manual

I saw the The Baby Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Trouble-Shooting Tips, and Advice on First-Year Maintenance at some hippy gift shop near our house in DC, but it turns out to be pretty good. Well designed, informative, and written...
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Modern Seed: way modern design for kids

Although you'd never know it from most baby/kid stores, kids and good design don't have to be mutually exclusive. And Modern Seed is an online-only shop that proves it. There are classic design toys like House of Cards by Ray...
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March 15, 2004

Children's Book Pick: 'Henry Climbs A Mountain'

Hearing Daniel Pinkwater's description of Henry Climbs A Mountain last December, we both had that annoying NPR choked-up moment, where we realized this was a book we really wanted to read to our kid someday. Author/illustrator D.B. Johnson has now...
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